The Circle Lady Thunderbirds avoided the upset bug Thursday night as they withstood a passionate challenge by the Mulvane Lady Wildcats to win 50-46 in a Class 4A sub-state semifinal at Maize South High School.
The Lady T-Birds knew about the ability of the Lady Wildcats to be a hard-charging team from their earlier contest with their opponents; plus knowing the capabilities of Mulvane’s comeback abilities.
“We had beaten them before, so we had that confidence going in,” said junior Kyrstie Ehm. “We just had to finish our shots, block out and guard the baseline. We didn’t do that well (on guarding the baseline), but we’ll work on that. We just have to play hard and things will take care of itself.”
Although their defense wasn’t working completely against Mulvane, the Lady T-Birds made it work when it counted in the fourth quarter. Circle (18-4) allowed only one field goal during while hitting five in a row during a four-minute stretch of the fourth quarter and turned a two-point deficit to a six-point lead with less than 2:30 remaining in regulation.
“It was just our communication on defense,” said senior Abby Burden about the fourth quarter stand. “We had been working on their down screen about guarding it hard, and I think we did that pretty good.”
Mulvane (10-12) almost recorded their second straight victory after a horrendous start. Circle led 14-5 after the opening quarter — nine points by Ehm — before the Lady Wildcats pushed the margin down to 24-22 at halftime.
“We knew that they are an aggresive team,” said Circle coach Brian Henry. “They’re very disciplined in their offense in setting screens. We knew we needed to play good defense to stop them.
“We did a good job the first quarter of containing that. We had a lull in the middle quarters, but we came back at the end and finished strong.”
Ehm finished with 15 points to lead Circle in scoring, while Burden added 10 in the victory.
Kelsey Miller led Mulvane in scoring with 16 points (11 in the third quarter).
The Lady T-Birds will play Wellington in the sub-state final at 6 p.m. Saturday. Wellington upset top-seeded Rose Hill 48-45 in the other semifinal game. The Circle players were psyched up to play Rose Hill in the final, but they said the loss last week at Wellington will keep them from losing focus.
“There’s no way we’re going to have a letdown,” Burden said. “This is the big game to come out and play hard.”
Ehm added: “We will have revenge on our minds. We’re sure they’ll come out ready to play.”
MULVANE (46) — Kelsey Miller 16, Jolee Gosch 1, Stephanie Wilson 6, Sydney Locke 3, Madison Bish 9, Taylor Parsons 7, Kayla Morton 2, Taylor Bell 2. Totals 19 7-11 46.
CIRCLE (50) — Kyrstie Ehm 15, Ally Burden 10, Courtney Couey 3, Hanna Flaming 8, Charity Hon 6, Taci Richard 4, Haley Barrett 4. Totals 20 10-22 50.
Mulvane 5 17 14 10 — 46
Circle 14 10 12 14 — 50
Three-point baskets — Mulvane 1 (Locke 1). Records — Mulvane 10-12, Circle 18-4.
Wichita, Kan. —
